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Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse

A species of Sandgrouse
Scientific name : Pterocles exustus Genus : Sandgrouse

Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, A species of Sandgrouse
Botanical name: Pterocles exustus
Genus: Sandgrouse
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles exustus) Photo By https://www.flickr.com/photos/rainbirder , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original

Description

The birds appear as small to medium-sized, brownish sandgrouses with an elongated and pointed tail when in flight. When grounded, they appear as very short-legged birds, with a small head. They will stretch out their long necks when wary. There are six recognised subspecies of chestnut-bellied sandgrouse. The overall plumage colouration varies between the six subspecies. The subspecies that inhabits the Nile Valley (P. e. floweri) have darker and greyer colouration on their heads, mantle and breasts and have less yellowish colouration on the upper wing-coverts and scapulars than the nominate subspecies, Pterocles exustus exustus (Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania and Sudan). P. e. ellioti (southeastern Sudan, to Somalia), P. e. erlangeri (southwestern Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman) and P. e. hindustan (Iran, Pakistan and India) are all paler and greyer than the nominate subspecies. P. e. olivascens (South Sudan to Northern Tanzania) has distinct greyer olive colouration on their upperparts and wings, with females having more heavily barred and streaked underparts than the nominate subspecies. There are six recognised subspecies of chestnut-bellied sandgrouse. The overall plumage colouration varies between the six subspecies. The subspecies, Pterocles exustus floweri that inhabits the Nile Valley have darker and greyer colouration on their heads, mantle and breasts and have less yellowish colouration on the upper wing-coverts and scapulars than the nominate subspecies, P. e. exustus (Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania and Sudan). P. e. ellioti (southeastern Sudan, to Somalia), P. e. erlangeri (southwestern Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman) and Pterocles exustus hindustan (Iran, Pakistan and India) are all paler and greyer than the nominate subspecies. P. e. olivascens (South Sudan to Northern Tanzania) has distinct greyer olive colouration on their upperparts and wings, with females having more heavily barred and streaked underparts than the nominate subspecies. The chestnut-bellied sandgrouse is sexually dimorphic in colouration. The subspecies that is found in abundance in the Thar and Sindh Deserts is easily distinguishable by plumage colouration. The male's upper parts, from the crown to upper tail are a covert isabelline-grey/brown colour. The lores, cheeks, chin, and throat are a dull yellow-ochre and often tinged with orange-buff that extends around the neck like a collar and shading off towards the scapular and interscapular feathers, shading into ocherous-buff at the tips and edged with brown. The wing feathers are a buff or ocherous-buff shading into olive towards the inner bottom wing. The bird's upper breast is a vinous-buff and separated by a narrow band of black boarded with white. The lower breast has a dull yellow-buff that changes gradually into a chocolate colour, with the centre of the abdomen is black. The under tail and tarsus in a creamy-buff. The centre tail is the same isabelline-grey/brown as the upper tail feathers, becoming black towards the prolonged narrow portions. The female's upper plumage is a dull-buff streaked with dark brown marks at the back of the neck, increasing to blotches, with other parts becoming broad bars. The wing feathers are the same as the back, but the feathers are tipped broadly with buff, with some coverts edged with brown. The neck, breast and sides of the head are vinous in colour, with black spots. The lower breast is a dull pale ochre-buff, with the abdomen to the vent closely barred with dark brown. And the under-tail covert feathers are creamy buff. The subspecies P. e. floweri, which inhabits the Nile Valley, are easily distinguishable between the sexes. The males tend to have an orange tone around their necks and faces, with sharp demarcated black lines across the pale upper breast. The male's face and throat are a yellowish colour, faintly contrasted with a greyish crown, neck and breast. The breast and neck of the females are heavily mottled with brown and white, lacking the black lines across the breast that the males possess.
Size
29-32 cm (11.5-12.5 in)
Feeding Habits
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, primarily feeds on small seeds, insects, and fallen berries. It forages on the ground and has specialized dietary needs, including a remarkable ability to metabolize foods high in fiber.
Habitat
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse predominantly inhabits arid and semi-arid environments, including bare semi-deserts with sporadic thorny vegetation, such as Acacia and Capparis scrubs. These birds are also found in areas of human disturbance like marginal agricultural lands, fallow fields, and grasslands. They prefer flat or gently undulating terrains, and can be found at elevations up to 1500 meters. Broadly, chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse is adapted to dry regions across continents where these habitat conditions prevail.
Dite type
Granivorous

General Info

Distribution Area

The chestnut-bellied sandgrouse is found across most of northern and central Africa and further east towards western and southern Asia. These birds are wide-stretching, inhibiting mostly the Afrotropic and Indomalayan biogeographic realms. The chestnut-bellied sandgrouse tends to prefer bare, bushy arid and sandy plains as its habitat. The chestnut-bellied sandgrouse that can be found in India is found most abundantly in the Thar or Sindh Desert. During the summer, where water is scarce, these birds often can be found conglomerating at a single waterhole to drink in their thousands. During the rainy seasons, when water is more plentiful, the birds tend to travel in smaller flocks. In Egypt, a subspecies (floweri) of chestnut-bellied sandgrouse was first discovered in the mid-19th century, and are found endemically in the Nile Valley. In the late 19th century, it was the most abundant species of sandgrouse inhabiting Egypt, but by 1929, they were already found to be scarce.Before being rediscovered in 2012, the last and most recent recorded observation was from 4 March 1979. The subspecies was rediscovered by a team of Austrian and German ornithologists while working in the Egyptian Nile valley in March 2012.

Species Status

Not globally threatened.
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles exustus) Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (Pterocles exustus) Photo By https://www.flickr.com/photos/rainbirder , used under CC-BY-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original

Scientific Classification

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